It’s raining. Again. We are both sitting on the green flowered, well used, sunken government issued couch with our laptops on our laps, our backs in pain typing emails while taking turns with the Ethernet line to send them. Hilarious! I am still in awe of the remarkable ride of this wild week.
After the long 4-day government weekend, we began our journey of trying to get our military life in order. We went to the PSD (Personal Support Detachment) office to set up Barrett’s pay as well as update his officer status so we could get our new ID cards. Funny thing…Barrett did not exist. They could not find Barrett in the system at all. This means that according to their records, Barrett was not now or ever in the military. They were all baffled at how we were here at all! How did we get plane tickets, orders, and on base? We shrugged wide-eyed with them. Turns out they had seen this only two times before. It took over 45 days to fix the first guy and three weeks for the second. Problem was, the others at least had some special papers that we did not have. That meant that we would not see a paycheck for 45 days and that we had no cash for a car, house, or anything in this cash only country. Not only that, he would not be able to be deployed like ordered which could make him have to move to a different unit causing the guy that he was replacing to miss his tour to Afghanistan. One domino falling affects the whole line! To up the ante, Barrett’s ID was to expire two days later so he would not be legally able access to anything. To say the least we were stressed…yet laughing at the same time to the incredulous position we now found ourselves in. Not in the Navy. CRAZY! Thus ended Thursday.
That night, our new found friend at PSD stayed up till after 2am our time to talk to the states to try and fix the problem. They found Barrett but still had no record of all his reserve time so the next night Barrett stayed up after midnight to work that out with the states. In a matter of 2 days they changed Barrett’s status from nonexistent to having all his reserve time correct. The Lord was so kind to us. Not only that, but there was a relief office that gave us half his paycheck which “by chance” was the exact amount to buy the car we wanted to the penny. We were in awe of how the Lord provided for us in honestly a way that left all the players speechless.
Saturday was zoned for us to look for a place to stay. Our realtor was a 24-year-old smiling girl who started three days ago! We were her very first clients! We worked through our language differences and saw many places but none really fit. We felt like goldilocks and the three bears! Nothing fit exactly right. We were a bit discouraged. But Barrett did have the opportunity to explain the gospel to her and invite her to church the next day. In her polite Japanese way she said she would come because she was “curious”. So we went home discouraged for no house, but glad to have made a new friend.
Then we ventured out in our new Nissan Liberty to look at the Air Force Lemon lot for another car. We walked around not really seeing anything but did venture to ask another random guy if he knew anything about Mitsubishi’s in Japan. Turns out he works across the street where Barrett works and he not only gave us the scoop on cars, but also on how to rent a better place! We stood in the cold for 30-45 minutes while this Commander opened our eyes and renewed our spirits in looking for a place. Another “random” meeting the Lord gave us.
So, in short, this week we got our licenses, bought our first car, drove with white knuckles and nervous laughs on the left side of the road, went from not being in the Navy to being in the Navy, not being paid for over a month to maybe being paid in 15 days, and almost changing the careers of other officers to being able to go to work on Monday.
Oh, and what about Aya, our new realtor friend? She showed up to church and this time I was able to share the hope of Christ with her, from Jesus being the last sacrifice, to what communion and baptism mean. She thanked us and said it was a lot to think about. I will get to spend tomorrow with her again to answer more questions as we look at more houses. I am still amazed at how He scripts our lives in unexpected ways.
Please pray for us to find a place to live that we can afford and that is in the area close to the hospital. Also, please pray for us to be a light of Christ to our realtor as well as all the admin and Chaplains that have a piece of our lives right now. We praise the Lord each day for His creative ways of bringing honor to Himself through the circumstances He gives us. We miss you all!